1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rain gutters, and, more particularly this invention relates to a connecting clip for installing an efficient gutter screen to gutter types such as a hemispherically-shaped gutter.
2. State of the Prior Art
Guard screens are designed to prevent leaves and other debris from entering the open top of the gutter while allowing the rain water passing from the roof to freely enter the gutter. The guard screen should not only prevent the leaves and other foreign matter from entering the gutter, but it should also present a sloped surface for deflecting this material off the screen. The screen should also preferably prevent water flow from the building eave between the gutter and the fascia board. Finally the gutter screen should be detachable along one of its longitudinal sides to allow the gutter to be cleaned of accumulated debris.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,680 issued Sep. 17, 1996 entitled GUARD SCREEN FOR A RAIN GUTTER HAVING FLANGES FOR GRIPPING THE FRONT LIP OF A GUTTER, I have set forth a brief history of the development of gutter guard screens from the common metal screen types through extruded plastic types.
The gutter screens presented in my above-mentioned issued U.S. Patent and in my issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,299 have the desirable features mentioned above as they are applied to the front lip of a "K-style" gutter. The hemispherically-shaped gutter shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,356 to Pepper and mentioned in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,680 has a pair of spaced ribs forming channels on the inwardly facing walls of the gutter to receive the sides of a gutter screen. This type of installation lacks the obvious advantages of my gutter screens.